Neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, are complex and chronic neurological disorders that are generally recognized as having an impairment of cognition and/or motor skills. New ideas and approaches for the search for new molecules from natural bioactive compounds for therapeutic and nutraceutical applications to prevent and treat neurodegenerative diseases are still underway. The present chapter aims to highlight and provide a brief overview of the neuroprotective properties of essential oils derived from terpenoids. Indeed, several investigations have shown that these essential oils have a strong anti-Alzheimer’s activity and provide a very high neuroprotective potential in Parkinson’s disease by inhibiting acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) activities, regulating neurotransmitter synthesis, release, and transmission, as well as suppressing β-amyloid peptide (Aβ), reducing the levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and increasing the level of phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK). In addition, they significantly restored antioxidant enzyme activity and reduced cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression, thus showing a strong antiinflammatory effect.
Elsevier, Natural Molecules in Neuroprotection and Neurotoxicity, 2024, pp 1669-1678
